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BOSTON, MA
–
On Thursday, February 16, 2006, Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran (WFAFI)
released a
statement regarding threats against the life of imprisoned Elham Afrootan,
in Bandar Abbas city, Hormozgan province. Elham was charged for publishing a
satirical article in a local weekly called "Tamadoun Hormozgan". While a
religious judge in Bandar Abbass city issued an execution decree for Elham,
WFAFI has just learned that Elham was brutally murdered in prison.

Elham was accused of publishing a satirical piece in the weekly paper which has
been shut down since her
arrest on January 29, 2006. The piece compares Ayatollah Khomeni to AIDS
virus, saying that it "arrived in Iran in 1979", the year of the Islamic
revolution. Titled: "Make the fight against AIDS public", the piece describes
Iran’s former president, Mohammad Khatami, as "a remedy that allowed for the
diffusion of the virus”. It also compares the current president, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, to "the virus in the first person" and describes Iran's
Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC or the Pasdaran), the judicial authority and the
ministry of intelligence and security (MOIS) as the "diffusion centers".

Although the editor of the weekly, Ali Dirbaz, faced no repercussions because of
his ties to the regime, Elham faced torture and brutal murder in prison cell.
Dirbaz, a parliamentarian who belongs to a faction close to Iran's president,
Ahmadinehad, claims that Elham passed the piece for publication without his
knowledge. Elham was immediately charged with insulting the founder of the
Islamic Republic, an act that is punishable by death.

WFAFI has learned that Elham was severely tortured and murdered, in recent days,
with forced intake of bleach and cleaning products. The Iranian regime is trying
to portray her murder as a suicide.

Like
Zahran Kazemi, Elham reminded the community of nations that the
fundamentalist regime in Tehran has no respects for freedom of press, expression
or association. Such acts of brutality can not be tolerated. Silence and lack of
action is just as worse. Elham was a young and brave journalist who paid dearly
for the freedom of expression and press.

WFAFI also urges the United States Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, to
publicly call out Ahmadinejad’s regime for the murder of Elham Afrootan.
Ahmadinejad, Ali Dirbaz (editor of the weekly), and the judge who issued the
torture and death penalty must be held responsible for their crimes. The Iranian
regime must be held responsible for the killings of its own citizens in the
International Criminal Court.